Manila, June 20, 2018: If you plan to buy an investment condo anytime soon, better choose one from the country’s top property developers and those located in prime locations to ensure good high resale value years from now.

This is according to data gathered by global real estate brokerage RE/MAX Philippines during their business roundtable held recently in Makati. According to RE/MAX country manager Kenneth Stern, condos like Ayala Land Premier’s One Serendra, The Residences at Greenbelt, and Park Terraces, and those by Rockwell Land perform very well in the secondary market, judging by how much the properties’ value increased since their launch dates. Another condo that performed well in the secondary market is Arya Residences, a two-tower “green” project in Bonifacio Global City.

According to RE/MAX, capital values of condo apartments in Arya Residences surged more than 150 percent to 2017 since the project’s launch in 2009, from Php83,000 per square meter to about Php215,000 per square meter. Touted as the first LEED- and BERDE-certified residential project in the Philippines, Arya is ArthaLand’s flagship project, which proves very popular in the secondary market.

Ayala Land Premier’s One Serendra West Tower is another project that boasts high resale value, according to RE/MAX. From an average per-square-meter price of Php108,000 during its launch in 2008, prices in this development now average Php230,000 per square meter in the secondary market based on data gathered by RE/MAX in 2017, signifying a more than 110 percent increase in value over a nine-year period. Similarly, condo apartments in The Residences at Greenbelt and Park Terraces—two projects of Ayala Land Premier in San Lorenzo, Makati—experienced 110 and 50 percent capital value growth, respectively, since the two projects launch dates, RE/MAX data shows, while Rockwell Land’s Edades Tower, the last condo project completed in Rockwell Center, experienced a 92-percent increase in capital value.

According to Stern, this data is important as it shows which condos and which developers perform well in the secondary market. “Condo buyers and investors look at future prices whenever they purchase, and our data will help them make informed decisions. As every condo buyer’s objective is to buy low and sell high, it will be prudent for them to choose their project and builder very carefully.”

Foreign buyers and the most preferred locations

RE/MAX data also shows that San Lorenzo (Makati) and Rockwell Center are the two areas where condos command the highest resale values, according to Stern. “Both these locations embody what condo investors are looking for in their next investment purchases: prime location and proximity to the business district and commercial areas.”

RE/MAX data shows that resale condo prices in San Lorenzo range from Php220,000 to Php300,000 per square meter, while Rockwell Center condos command resale prices of between Php135,000 and Php360,000 per square meter.

In addition, RE/MAX disclosed that Makati and Taguig (specifically BGC) are the two Metro Manila areas where condos are attractive to foreign buyers. Thirty percent of all transactions closed by the brokerage firm in 2017 involved foreign buyers, while in Taguig, it is 23 percent.

According to Stern, as RE/MAX opens more franchises and collects more data, it will be interesting to see how other areas perform in the secondary market, especially with regards to foreign buyers.

“As a global company, RE/MAX is in good position to help its brokers and agents get worldwide exposure, giving them access to foreign markets that were previously inaccessible to them,” said Stern. “As we expand, we also aim to include more locations to our data and see how up-and-coming locations are performing in the secondary market.”

These areas, according to Stern, include Arca South and the Bay City, which are still largely considered primary markets but will be interesting to see how properties here perform in the resale market years from now. “The resale market is a very good gauge to measure the success of an area or a project,” said Stern. “At the end of the day, property investors are buying in the hope of cashing in from their purchase, and what better way to know if a condo is a good investment than to buy low and sell high.”

And in the case of the aforementioned condos, sell really, really high.